Two days after a deadly stabbing attack at a crowded mall in Sydney, the police in Australia said they had arrested a man on suspicion of stabbing multiple people during mass at a church in a suburb west of the city.
A police operation was underway after 7:10 p.m. local time on Monday, the New South Wales Police Force said in a statement. The police said that “a number of people were stabbed,” but that none of them had suffered life-threatening injuries. The Australian news media reported that there were four victims, including a religious leader.
A livestream of a service at the Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley, Australia, showed an assailant walking up to Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel while he was addressing a crowd and beating him repeatedly with his hand, while holding an object that can’t be seen in the video. Cries and screams can be heard from others in the church.
“A large police response is underway, and the public is urged to avoid the area,” the police said. “It’s important that the community remain calm.”
Chris Minns, the premier of New South Wales, said on social media that he had convened a meeting of religious leaders in western Sydney after the church stabbing.
“Disturbing scenes tonight in Wakeley,” he wrote on X. “All of the following community leaders endorsed and supported a unanimous condemnation of violence in any form.”
Bishop Emmanuel is part of an ultraconservative sect of the Assyrian Orthodox religion. He is known to livestream his sermons online. During the pandemic, he opposed lockdowns and preached against Covid vaccinations. He has also often condemned L.G.B.T.Q. people.
Soon after the attack, videos started circulating online of a large group of people protesting outside the church, which The Sydney Morning Herald described as a “near-riot.” As of 1 a.m. local time, order had been restored and the police operation had ended, the police force said in a statement.
Two officers were injured and police vehicles sustained damage, the police said. One officer was hit by a metal object and had a “twisted knee and a chipped tooth,” they said, while another officer had a broken jaw after being hit with a brick and a piece of fence.
The police said they had taken the man whom they arrested to an undisclosed location.
